Patent protection grants the patent holder with a market monopoly, free from market competition allowing the patentee to charge any price; therefore medicines are sold at prices much higher than the marginal cost of production and distribution. The connection between international trade and intellectual property has aggravated human rights and public health concerns surrounding the inaccessibility of essential medicines. The World Trade Organisation‘s Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement is an international instrument which has greatly impacted intellectual property rights protection and access to medicine. It has globalized intellectual property law by obliging all Members to subscribe to the minimum international standards of protection for intellectual property. South Africa is an example of the issues faced whilst attempting to bring their domestic laws into compliance with the Agreement. The government had to attempt to strike a balance between creating an effective intellectual property infrastructure whilst realizing the therapeutic needs of those affected by HIV/AIDS. The South African Patents Act 57 of 1978 did not comply with the Agreement and was subsequently amended in order to bring its patent legislation in full compliance with the Agreement. Currently, South Africa grants patents for new uses or formulations of existing medicines consequently lengthening the period of patent monopoly by allowing pharmaceutical companies to obtain new patents for slight modifications to existing medicines. It is submitted that South Africa‘s patent legislation is more extensive than is necessary under international law, examples of this being disclosure standards and the process for compulsory licensing. In addition, it has not made use of provisions in its existing law to take measures to improve access to essential medicines, nor has it implemented legislative amendments consequent to the flexibilities established in the Doha Declaration. This dissertation seeks to review the steps South Africa has taken in its compliance with the TRIPS Agreement with respect to the relevant intellectual property legislation that has been enacted, including its implications for access to essential medicines. The intention behind this dissertation is to assess the efficacy of the intellectual property legislation in South Africa and its impact on access to medicines. / Thesis (LL.M.)-Univeristy of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Depuis le début de son histoire, l’être humain cherche, pour de nombreuses raisons à s’associer et développer le milieu où il vit. Ces caractéristiques culminèrent dans les phénomènes de mondialisation et de révolution technologique responsables de la diminution des distances physiques et temporelles du monde contemporain. Ces facteurs ont stimulé les processus d’intégration régionaux, lesquels ont pour but le renforcement de ses adhérents face à la nouvelle réalité mondiale. Parmi ces processus, on note le Mercosur qui vise à la création d’un marché commun entre l’Argentine, le Brésil, le Paraguay et l’Uruguay. Fondé sur l’intergouvernabilité et avec une structure organisationnelle définie, ce bloc économique possède un cadre normatif en évolution, cherchant constamment la sécurité juridique dans divers secteurs. Quant à la protection des droits de propriété intellectuelle, on constate une ancienne préoccupation de la région sur le thème. Toutefois, le peu de normes existantes au sein du bloc confèrent des droits subjectifs minimaux et la plupart d’entre eux ne sont pas intégrés dans les législations nationales, lesquelles sont alignées sur les traités internationaux. Dans ses relations internationales, le Mercosur a une longue histoire de négociations avec l’Union Européenne et une histoire plus modeste avec le Canada, dans lesquelles l’attention portée aux droits de propriété intellectuelle n’est pas uniforme. De plus, sa participation dans les organismes internationaux responsables de ces droits est faible. Dans ce contexte, même avec un futur incertain le Mercosur présente de grandes expectatives. Toutefois, la préoccupation à protéger les droits de propriété intellectuelle est présente et réelle et commence à prendre de l’ampleur dans ses relations internes et externes. / Since the beginning of its history, the human being seeks, for many reasons, to join and develop the environment where he lives. These features, culminating in the phenomena of globalization and technological revolution, were responsible for the decrease in physical and temporal distances of the contemporary world. These factors have stimulated the regional integration processes, which are intended to strengthen its members to deal with a new global reality. Among these processes, we note the Mercosur aimed at creating a common market between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Based on its inter-governability and with a defined organizational structure, the economic bloc has an evolving normative framework, constantly seeking legal security in various sectors. As for the protection of intellectual property rights, there is an old concern of the region on the subject. However, few standards exist within the block granting minimum individual rights and most of them are not integrated in the national laws, which are aligned with international treaties. In its international relations, Mercosur has a long history of negotiations with the European Union and a timid story with Canada, in which attention to intellectual property rights is not uniform. Moreover, its participation in international organizations responsible for these rights is weak. Thus, even with an uncertain future Mercosur has great expectations. However, the concern to protect intellectual property rights is present and real and starts to grow in its internal and external relationships.

Le diagnostic de prédisposition génétique du cancer du sein et de l’ovaire est détenu par la firme de biotechnologie Myriad Genetics depuis 1996, sous la forme d’un brevet, qui lui octroie une licence d’exploitation internationale, infirmant le droit d’analyse moléculaire aux autres laboratoires. Ce monopole, lui permet de statuer sur un prix excessivement plus élevé qu’en milieu public et d’astreindre en justice, les laboratoires contrevenants. Depuis 2001, le Québec est la seule province qui se soumet (en partie) au brevet, en faisant appel à la compagnie pour le séquençage complet. À travers cette recherche, j’analyse les politiques de brevetage génétique, dans sa construction juridique de la propriété intellectuelle et dans les significations culturelles des biotechnologies. Je m’appuie sur un cadre analytique des théories de propriété et sur la recherche en biomédical. Je procède également à l’analyse du discours des médecins et conseillers généticiens au Québec, à travers des entrevues conduites dans des centres hospitaliers de la région de Montréal et de Sherbrooke. Cette étude qualitative identifie comment les conseillers et médecins généticiens conçoivent le rôle des brevets dans les dépistages et diagnostics du cancer et comment les brevets génétiques expriment une culture médicale. Je cherche à déterminer comment sont perçus par des professionnels de santé les brevets génétiques en analysant et en comparant les variations entre limites idéologiques et limites pratiques. / The biotechnology company Myriad Genetics owns the diagnosis of genetic predisposition of breast and ovarian cancer since 1996. The patent, which grants an international license, reverses the right of molecular analysis by other laboratories. This monopoly allows the company to apply an excessively higher price than public laboratories and pursue the offenders in justice. However, since 2001, Quebec is the only province to respect (in part) the patent, using the company for the complete sequencing. This research analyzes the gene patent politics in its legal structure of intellectual property and the cultural meanings of biotechnology. I rely on an analytical framework of theories of property and biomedical research. I also proceeded to the discourse analysis of physicians and genetic counsellors in Quebec through interviews conducted in hospitals in the region of Montreal and Sherbrooke. This qualitative study identifies how doctors and genetic counsellors analysis the role of patents in the screening and diagnosis of cancer and how genetic patents express a medical culture. The study aims to explore how gene patents are perceived in analyzing and comparing the variations between ideological limits and practical limits.

Many patent law dilemmas arise from a failure to understand technologies as embedded in broader social, economic and political realities and to contextually analyze these legal phenomena. This narrowness leads to poor legal development, of which the modern medical exception from patentability is one example. Judges have difficulty interpreting it, patentees do not understand its purpose and it does not protect the important medical technologies to which the public would like access. This thesis applies a legal pluralist analysis to examine the emergence of the medical methods exception in order to understand why it was created and legislated. It starts by examining the origins of the exception in the caselaw, and the informal, concurrent norm established by the emerging medical profession in the early 20th century. It then proceeds to examine why the medical profession might have sought and enforced a norm prohibiting its members from patenting, and concludes that this arose from the need of the medical profession to distance itself from the patent law. As a result, professionalizing physicians established an internal normative order that mimicked and in many cases replaced the effect of the formal law. The thesis then proceeds to examine how the form of the informal norm evolved in the period between WWI and WWII, finding that the profession’s norm transformed and broke down concurrently with its efforts to achieve external legitimacy through legislation. That breakdown arose from factors which included growing labour mobility, greater understanding of the benefits of patents, and a growing role of science and industry in medicine that threatened the profession’s access to valuable medical innovation. The thesis concludes with a study of a current case (Myriad Genetics) that applies the thesis’ theoretical framework to a present dispute over the role the law should play in regulating genetic diagnostic tests.

E-handeln inom Europa växer explosionsartat och tillgång till varor och tjänster är i dagsläget endast några få knapptryck bort. Eftersom åtkomsten till internet är global kan hemsidor och webbshoppar få en enorm internationell spridning. Näringsidkare som bedriver fysisk handel kan enkelt anpassa sig till lagar, språk, valuta mm. i landet där deras verksamhet är placerad, men anpassningen på internet, i cybervärlden, är svårare. Geolokalisering är en teknik som gör det möjligt för näringsidkare att kunna anpassa sig, genom att lokalisera och fastställa var internetanvändare befinner sig. När en internetanvändares geografiska placering är fastställd, kan näringsidkaren anpassa utbud, reklam, språk och valuta på hemsidan som denne bedriver. Möjligheten att kunna lokalisera internetanvändare på detta sätt, är ur ett affärsmässigt perspektiv mycket lönsamt för en näringsidkare. Geolokaliseringen ger även näringsidkaren en möjlighet till att geoblockera internetanvändare från dennes hemsida, genom att exempelvis helt blockera åtkomst, anpassa vilka produkter internetanvändaren får åtkomst till eller omdirigera internetanvändare från en version av hemsidan till en annan. Geoblockering kan därför underlätta det för en näringsidkare att följa regler och lagar i de olika länderna där dennes hemsida är tillgänglig. Immaterialrätter är i regel skyddade inom olika territorium. Med immaterialrätter följer ensamrätt till användande av rättigheten inom skyddsområdet. En näringsidkare som säljer varor på sin e-handels hemsida, som är eller kan vara omfattade av andra innehavares rättighetsskydd, kan använda geoblockering som ett verktyg för att helt undvika eller anpassa sig till de olika immaterialrättsliga skyddsområdena. Kommissionen har meddelat att ett av EU:s mål är att skapa en digital inre marknad och förhindra diskriminering mot konsumenter baserat på nationalitet, bostadsort eller geografisk placering. Diskrimineringen kan utgöras av exempelvis olika begränsningar för en konsument som vill få tillgång till ett innehåll eller köpa varor på internet. En sådan begränsning kan vara geoblockering. Den 25 maj 2016 lade Kommissionen fram ett förordningsförslag, som syftar till att förbjuda omotiverad geoblockering. I november 2016 enades Rådet om ett utkast till förordningen. Förordningsförhandlingarna förväntas påbörja så snart som Europaparlamentet enats om sin ståndpunkt. Frågan är hur ett förbud mot geoblockering kan komma att påverka näringsidkare inom e-handeln, ur ett immaterialrättsligt perspektiv.

The capacity to assemble, store, and make available information in databases is ever growing. This development has accelerated in recent decades, driven by the advent and increased use of digital networks. Already at an early stage, it led to demands for legal protection of databases. In most countries databases have been protected in national legislation based on copyright principles. However, this kind of protection has been regarded as insufficient. The reason for this is that copyright protection only covers the selection or arrangement of the contents of the database. By rearranging the contents, it is possible to avoid liability for copyright infringement. To address the specific needs of producers of databases, the then European community adopted a directive in 1996 on the legal protection of databases. The Directive aims to harmonise copyright protection for databases and to introduce a new, sui generis, right for the legal protection of databases. The sui generis right protects the investments in obtaining, verifying, and presenting the contents in a database. The sui generis right has been described in the literature as one of the most complex intellectual property rights ever established. Its complexity resides in the unclear relationship between the requirements for protection and the content and scope of protection. This dissertation describes, analyses, compares and systematises the legal protection for databases as provided for in the EU Database Directive – both in relation to copyright and sui generis protection, but also in relation to the intellectual property system in general and principles and rules on unfair competition. The study also describes and analyses the Directive as implemented into Swedish law. To do this, it makes use of relevant legal sources, with particular account taken of relevant sources of EU law such as the Directive itself, adjacent directives in the field of copyright and related rights, as well as unfair competition law and the case law and legal method developed by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The study also draws on underlying theories of intellectual property protection and unfair competition law, as well as arguments based on unjust enrichment and pure economic loss. The study establishes how the sui generis right serves as a legal hybrid between traditional intellectual property rights and protection against unfair competition. The structure of the right resembles traditional intellectual property rights, with requirements for protection, provisions on exclusive rights, exceptions and limitations and a term of protection. At the same time, the content and scope of protection provide measures similar to those countering unfair competition with aspects of protection against pure economic loss. The right protects against certain activities carried out in the market rather than providing protection for a traditional object of intellectual property law. When implementing the Directive, the Swedish legislator overlooked these aspects of the sui generis right, creating legal uncertainties when interpreting and applying the national legislation. The study concludes with a look forward and suggestions for future research.

在知識經濟的時代大背景下，知識產權交易是知識產權轉化為商品的有效 手段，而知識產權交易平台又是知識產權交易的重要硬體保障。文章分析了中國大陸知識產權交易市場的現狀，分析借鑑了國外優秀交易平台的建設經驗，指出了中國大陸知識產權交易平台中存在的問題，闡述了建設知識產權交易平台的特點、作用與發展定位，結合目前的發展規劃，提出了建立健全知識產權綜合交易平台的構想及具體建議。

Le droit des brevets a pour but premier de favoriser les développements technologiques et industriels. Cependant, à l’heure actuelle, ce domaine voit son rôle confronté à une forme de crise, à cause plus précisément des avancées constatées dans le secteur des biotechnologies. De difficiles questions fondamentales se posent à différents niveaux, que ce soit socialement, moralement et légalement. Au vu de ces observations, la question est de savoir, dans le cadre de cette étude, si la régulation devrait être plus signifiante en tenant compte des considérations morales et éthiques dans le processus de brevetabilité. Cette étude a donc pour but de comparer et d’évaluer les diverses solutions proposées en Europe, aux États-Unis et au Canada, afin de déterminer quelle serait la voie envisageable vers la résolution de cette problématique. Par exemple, dans ce contexte, on peut pointer l’approche européenne, où la CBE et la Directive du Parlement européen relative à la protection des inventions biotechnologiques (98/44/CE) semblent introduire des notions éthiques dans leurs textes juridiques. Un tel procédé apporte des notions qui peuvent être considérées comme vagues et évolutives dans un processus qui se veut apparemment technique. Alors que si l’on prend l’approche nord-américaine, celle-ci se fonde sur des critères de brevetabilité dénués de toutes considérations morales. Par l’analyse de ces éléments, une voie possible pourrait être décrite vers un système des brevets qui répondrait mieux aux exigences actuelles. / Patent law has for primary goals to promote new tehnological and industrial developments. However, patent law has been currently confronted to some questioning about its role raised particulary by the new advancement made in biotechnologies. Difficult fondamental questions must be addressed at different levels: socialy, moraly and legaly. Following these obersvations, the question to answer, in this study, is whether regulation should be more significant by taking into account some moral and ethical considerations in the process of patentability. The goal of this study is to compare and estimate the various solutions provided by Europe, the USA and Canada, to determine what could be the answer of that problematic. For exemple, in this context, we can point out the European approach, where the EPC and the Directive of the European Parliamment on the Legal Protection of Biotechnological Inventions (98/44/CE) seem to introduce ethical notions in their legislation. Such approach brings elements which can be discribed as indistinct and progressive in a process apparently defined as technical. But if we take the North American approach, its patentability critea are not based on any moral consideration. So by analysing these elements, an approach could be defined to a more appropriate patent legislation fitting the actual necessities.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Vladimír Lajsek: Chosen Relative Grounds for Dismissal of a Trademark Registration This topic is dealing with two chosen relative grounds of dismissal of a trademark registration, particularly with sec. 7 (1) (i) and sec. 7 (1) (j) statute No. 441/2003 Coll. The first part presents a general introduction in the whole issue, as with relative grounds for dismissal of a trademark registration and with proceeding on objections. Afterwards, there is described historical development of these provisions, which helped to their establishing into Czech legal order. The author finds, that these provisions were not established until convergence with the European law. Next parts are focusing on the particular provisions. The chapter about objection to the older copyright contains the role of the Czech Industrial Property Office in the proceedings of author crafts and their authorship. The Office should make its own conclusion in these circumstances, so it is not dependent on the binding decision of a court. In the issue of considering, whether particular mark is or is not an author craft, the author offers his own three-level-test of uniqueness, which is based on summarisation of the former decision-making of the Office. To the issue of the right to sue on grounds of this objection the author concludes, this...